WINTERTHUR.- The exhibition The Lure of the Image explores contemporary digital forms of photography and their seductive powers: How do images bait or beguile us as they circulate online? How do they compel, capture or control us?
The 14 artistic positions presented in the exhibition engage with visual phenomena that serve as vehicles for online communication, criticism and humour. They highlight the crucial role images play in shaping our social, cultural and political landscapes.
The show invites visitors to explore the visual worlds of social media feeds, dating app profiles, face filters, memes, ASMR videos, ‘cute’ and ‘cursed’ images, emoji, computer- generated imagery and low-resolution screenshots used for conspiracy or protest. The artistic positions track the complex mechanisms of the lure, shedding light on how images and their underlying structures – from algorithms to datasets – direct our attention, provoke emotions and influence opinions. As such, the works offer contemporary investigations into how images are both embedded within, and actively contribute to, an attention-driven economy – one that fuels our desires and thrives on our affective reactions.
With works by: Zoé Aubry, Sara Bezovšek, Viktoria Binschtok, Sara Cwynar, Éamonn Freel x Lynski, Dina Kelberman, Michael Mandiberg, Joiri Minaya, Simone C Niquille, Jon Rafman, Jenny Rova, Hito Steyerl, Noura Tafeche and Ellie Wyatt
Selected Works
In her work #Ingrid (2022), Zoé Aubry (*1993) examines the gruesome reality of systemic violence against women. The title of the work refers to Ingrid Escamilla Vargas, a young Mexican woman who was brutally murdered by her husband in 2020. When corrupt authorities passed on photos of the victim's mutilated body to the local press, which ran them as front-page news, activists took to the streets to protest this voyeuristic and sensationalist media coverage. The solidarity movement continued on social media, where the hashtag initiative #IngridEscamillaVargas set out to rid the internet of the leaked photos. The hashtag connected any online search for Ingrid to beautiful images she should be remembered by – images of pristine landscapes and lavender sunsets. Like an archivist, Aubry collected, compiled and preserved this fleeting moment of online resistance. At once a gut-wrenching homage as well as a powerful, collectively voiced wake-up call for a much-needed discussion around femicide.
The artist Dina Kelberman (*1979) dedicates her work The Wave (2025) to the phenomenon of ASMR videos. ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) can best be described as a tingling, relaxing sensation triggered by soft sounds, gentle touches or soothing visuals. For her work, Kelberman collected thousands of videos showing gloved hands performing intimate acts with foamy sponges – squishing, lathering and tearing them apart. Kelberman transforms these videos into an immersive installation, organising them from ‘soothing’ to ‘abrasive’ and projecting them at large scale on opposing walls, which results in a cacophony of sounds and visuals. Through this presentation, the artist exposes the complex tensions lurking within this audiovisual phenomenon that captivates our senses through its aesthetic allure, sonic landscapes and hypnotic repetition.
The work #dominicanwomengooglesearch (2016) by artist Joiri Minaya (*1990) shows cutout fragments of body parts read as female, with stylised tropical fabrics collaged on their verso. Sourced from a Google search for ‘Dominican women’, the images reveal clichéd depictions – perpetuated and reinforced by the algorithms of online search engines. By reappropriating tropical patterns, Minaya’s works expose how such motifs are tailored to Western colonial fantasies that exoticise and objectify Caribbean women. The artist challenges the colonial legacy that persists within our gaze and our technological systems – and that continues to this day to stigmatise the Black female body.
The artist Jenny Rova (*1972) makes her personal experiences of online dating the subject of her work A MILF DREAM – My Matches on Tinder (2024). After signing up for Tinder, she discovered that her ‘sexual status’ in the online dating pool was that of a MILF (‘Mother I’d Like to Fuck’) – a vulgar slang used to designate aging women desired by younger men.
She created collages weaving together photographic elements from the profiles of her Tinder matches – navigating the intersections of intimacy, self-representation and the photographic gaze. The collages reveal, humorously at times, the tension between the artist’s personal preferences and the increasingly standardised forms of curating one’s self-presentation.
In Annihilation Core Inherited Lore ٩)͡๏̯๏͡)۶ (2023–), Noura Tafeche (*1987) investigates how cuteness aesthetics are weaponised online to spread military propaganda and violence.
Drawing on an archive of over 30,000 files, Tafeche reveals how pastel-coloured plushies, manga fan art and doe eyes can be become vehicles for war messaging, sexualised aggression, weapons fetishisation and alt-right ideologies. Tafeche maps aesthetic forms from ‘kawaii’ (a Japanese cultural phenomenon which emphasises cuteness and innocence) to gaming, TikTok and fan art, illustrating how viral content like memes or online dance challenges can promote misogyny, supremacism and racism.
